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Cherry-laurel

Prunus lauracerasus (accepted: Prunus laurocerasus) · Rosaceae · all Prunus records

Your local evidence lens

Separate evidence questions, never one approval badge

Set a ZIP to compare this record with state distribution, native range, USDA hardiness, and invasive records.

A genus split is not a placement verdict. Set a ZIP to read the local documented split.

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions: 2 conditions stated in cited fire-evidence rows.
Fire ecology context: No section-reviewed fire-ecology context is normalized.
Placement evidence: 2 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Catalonia, Spain; Global; Marin County, California; New Zealand; Provence, southeastern France; Virginia / Mid-Atlantic; eastern US
Maintenance: No sourced horticultural maintenance assertion is normalized; fire-test conditions do not supply maintenance advice.

Typed publication scope: 2 scopes across 2 cited fire sources

Fire-Resistant Plants Common to Marin County · Official scoped edition
- Marin County (CA footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2019-01-01
  The publication is explicitly limited to plants common to Marin County. FireApproved publishes 104 exact owners as Marin regional context while retaining its placement, spacing, irrigation, and maintenance boundary. It is not statewide California guidance or parcel suitability.
Virginia Firescapes — Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes (430-300) · Official scoped edition
- VA; partial normalized coverage · 2009-04-15
  Virginia Cooperative Extension's publication opens with Virginia wildfire conditions, identifies its Virginia Firewise Landscaping Task Force, and labels plants native to Virginia. FireApproved publishes 306 exact source owners. Publication scope does not establish parcel suitability or current endorsement of this archived 2009 list.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: Documented in CA, DC, DE, MD, NJ, OH, OR, PA, WA, WV.
Native range: No current cited or legacy state native range is normalized.
Introduced / established: No introduced or established row is normalized; that does not prove native status.
USDA hardiness: Only uncertain or inapplicable hardiness rows are cited; no primary zone is projected.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Legal-list status: Set a location for an exact legal-list result; source silence is not clearance.
Seed-list status: Set a location to compare the separate state noxious-weed seed layer.
Reported invasive here: 1 ecological invasive report; set a location to distinguish exact from regional context.
Broader regional context: Aggregate AK, HI, and L48 evidence is shown only as regional context, never as an exact-state finding.
Federal context: Federal designations remain separate from state legal-list results.

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Cherry-laurel (Prunus lauracerasus) — Photo: (c) Erin Lalime, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Form: shrub
USDA hardiness: Only uncertain or inapplicable source rows; no primary zone projected
Mature height: ~5 ft
Light: Part sun
Grows in: CA, DC, DE, MD, NJ, OH, OR, PA +2
Rated in: Catalonia, Spain; Global; Marin County, California; New Zealand +3
Family: Rosaceae
Evidence: 23 cited sources

Plant hardiness evidence

These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector · record prunus-lauracerasus · 2016-wayback · as of 2026-08-26

Source prints 6 · single-value meaning unresolved · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Prunus lauracerasus · exact match.

Source location: Cold Hardiness Zone field in the recovered selector record.

Not used for comparison: The recovered selector prints one Cold Hardiness Zone value but does not define it as a minimum threshold or a one-zone range.

Conditions in the fire evidence

These describe tested or rated plant material. They are not horticultural maintenance instructions.

green: Flammability of some ornamental species in wildland-urban interfaces in southeastern France evidence row
irrigated: Fire-Resistant Plants Common to Marin County evidence row

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector: Landscape Zone 2 — 5–10 ft from the structure; maintained lawn or fuel breaks, with easily ignited evergreens avoided [Fire Performance Plant Selector landscape zone] (mid-scale rating)
Guía de pirojardinería: suitable inside or outside the 25-metre maximum-risk zone [girona-2020-iuf-25m-suitability] (with its recommendation)

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Avoids (1)

Virginia Firescapes — Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes (430-300) — Virginia Cooperative Extension / Virginia Tech (Appleton, Frenzel, Hillegass, Lyons, Steward — Virginia Firewise Landscaping Task Force) · 2009 · original source Primary evidence Expert-curated lineage: ufifas-srs-tree

“H flammability”

Fruit and leaves may be mildly poisonous.

Mid-scale / conditional (2)

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector — USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area S&PF + state Firewise programs (WV, OH, PA, DE, DC, MD, NJ) · 2016-wayback · original source Primary evidence Keyed curation lineage: ufifas-srs-tree

“AT RISK Firewise (3)”

Spreading shrub found commonly in southern landscapes.
Flammability of some ornamental species in wildland-urban interfaces in southeastern France — Environmental Management (Ganteaume, Jappiot, Lampin, Guijarro, Hernando) · 2013 · original source Primary evidence Lab-tested lineage: inia-madrid-tree

“Moderately flammable cluster; live-leaf Valette rating 4” · score 4 (valette-0-5-live-leaf) · condition: green

Live leaves were tested by epiradiator for ignition frequency, time to ignition, and flaming duration.

Listed without a rating (17)

FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

17 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
- “ignition frequency (%): 91.7” · score 91.7 (FLAMITS — ignition frequency (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 1482; Ignitability measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “maximum sample temperature (°C): 525.5” · score 525.5 (FLAMITS — maximum sample temperature (°C))
  
  FLAMITS record 1676; Combustibility measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “burning duration (s): 20.3” · score 20.3 (FLAMITS — burning duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 1870; Sustainability measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “estimated burnt biomass (%): 43.8” · score 43.8 (FLAMITS — estimated burnt biomass (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 2064; Consumability measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “time to flaming (s): 153” · score 153 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 3612; Ignitability measurement; plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Ganteaume2012-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2012: Ganteaume, A., Jappiot, M., & Lampin, C. (2012). Assessing the flammability of surface fuels beneath ornamental vegetation in wildlandurban interfaces in Provence (south-eastern France). International Journal of Wildland Fire, 22, 333.
- “flaming duration (s): 75” · score 75 (FLAMITS — flaming duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 3619; Sustainability measurement; plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Ganteaume2012-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2012: Ganteaume, A., Jappiot, M., & Lampin, C. (2012). Assessing the flammability of surface fuels beneath ornamental vegetation in wildlandurban interfaces in Provence (south-eastern France). International Journal of Wildland Fire, 22, 333.
- “ignition frequency (%): 41.5” · score 41.5 (FLAMITS — ignition frequency (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 3626; Ignitability measurement; plant part litter; fuel all; predrying yes; device burning bench; site Ganteaume2012-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2012: Ganteaume, A., Jappiot, M., & Lampin, C. (2012). Assessing the flammability of surface fuels beneath ornamental vegetation in wildlandurban interfaces in Provence (south-eastern France). International Journal of Wildland Fire, 22, 333.
- “time to flaming (s): 17.43” · score 17.43 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 3634; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Ganteaume2013-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2013: Ganteaume, A., Jappiot, M., Lampin, C., Guijarro, M., & Hernando, C. (2013). Flammability of some ornamental species in wildland-urban interfaces in southeastern France: laboratory assessment at particle level. Environmental Management, 52, 467-80.
- “flaming duration (s): 4.92” · score 4.92 (FLAMITS — flaming duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 3642; Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Ganteaume2013-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2013: Ganteaume, A., Jappiot, M., Lampin, C., Guijarro, M., & Hernando, C. (2013). Flammability of some ornamental species in wildland-urban interfaces in southeastern France: laboratory assessment at particle level. Environmental Management, 52, 467-80.
- “ignition frequency (%): 49” · score 49 (FLAMITS — ignition frequency (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 3650; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Ganteaume2013-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2013: Ganteaume, A., Jappiot, M., Lampin, C., Guijarro, M., & Hernando, C. (2013). Flammability of some ornamental species in wildland-urban interfaces in southeastern France: laboratory assessment at particle level. Environmental Management, 52, 467-80.
- “time to flaming (s): 153.39” · score 153.39 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 3663; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel all; predrying yes; device epiradiator; site Ganteaume2018-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2018: Ganteaume, A. (2018). Does plant flammability differ between leaf and litter bed scale? Role of fuel characteristics and consequences for flammability assessment. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27, 342-352.
- “flaming duration (s): 75.33” · score 75.33 (FLAMITS — flaming duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 3678; Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel all; predrying yes; device epiradiator; site Ganteaume2018-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2018: Ganteaume, A. (2018). Does plant flammability differ between leaf and litter bed scale? Role of fuel characteristics and consequences for flammability assessment. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27, 342-352.
- “ignition frequency (%): 41.5” · score 41.5 (FLAMITS — ignition frequency (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 3693; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel all; predrying yes; device epiradiator; site Ganteaume2018-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2018: Ganteaume, A. (2018). Does plant flammability differ between leaf and litter bed scale? Role of fuel characteristics and consequences for flammability assessment. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27, 342-352.
- “flame propagation: 3.5” · score 3.5 (FLAMITS — flame propagation)
  
  FLAMITS record 3708; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel all; predrying yes; device epiradiator; site Ganteaume2018-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2018: Ganteaume, A. (2018). Does plant flammability differ between leaf and litter bed scale? Role of fuel characteristics and consequences for flammability assessment. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27, 342-352.
- “time to flaming (s): 17.43” · score 17.43 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 3723; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Ganteaume2018-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2018: Ganteaume, A. (2018). Does plant flammability differ between leaf and litter bed scale? Role of fuel characteristics and consequences for flammability assessment. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27, 342-352.
- “flaming duration (s): 4.92” · score 4.92 (FLAMITS — flaming duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 3738; Sustainability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Ganteaume2018-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2018: Ganteaume, A. (2018). Does plant flammability differ between leaf and litter bed scale? Role of fuel characteristics and consequences for flammability assessment. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27, 342-352.
- “ignition frequency (%): 49” · score 49 (FLAMITS — ignition frequency (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 3753; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device epiradiator; site Ganteaume2018-1; sampling summer. Primary study Ganteaume2018: Ganteaume, A. (2018). Does plant flammability differ between leaf and litter bed scale? Role of fuel characteristics and consequences for flammability assessment. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27, 342-352.

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

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Prunus lauracerasus (Cherry-laurel). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/prunus-lauracerasus/. Last verified 2026-08-23.